I received an email last Wednesday from the Portable Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia, inviting me to submit my short film, GIRL DISCONNECTED to the festival for competition. Needless to say, I was absolutely elated.
After all, this happened just one day after my Sin Chew Daily newspaper interview was published, and that this was also the very time I've ever been invited to submit my works to a foreign film festival. It was stated in the email that a member of their (the Portable Film Fest) research team found GIRL DISCONNECTED (I wonder how, the member's Malaysian? My film wasn't shown anywhere in Australia outside my own uni... very mysterious) and that's why they wanted me to submit it to the fest.
So, immediately I burnt a copy of GD and put it into an envelope, deadline's on the 30th of May, I couldn't afford to miss it. I headed to the post-office to send my stuff to Melbourne.
And had the misfortune to meet the most discouraging and pessimistic post office employee ever.
Basically, our conversation was like that (originally in Malay, but I'm translating it to English)
Me: Heya, I want to send this package to Melbourne aia express mail.
Him: Sure, fill in the form.
(I filled in the form)
Him: That will be 66 Ringgit.
(I stared at him in horror)
Me: SIXTY-SIX! THAT'S EXPENSIVE!
(He nodded)
Me: Er... ah... (frowns) If I send this normally? How much? And how long does it take to reach Melbourne?
Him: 3 ringgit 50 cents. Will arrive in 2 weeks. One thing though, we can't guarantee that it'll reach the intended recipient.
(I stared at him in horror. Again.)
Me: What? But this is urgent! Howwwwww?
Him: Maybe you can try to register the post, it's another 3 ringgit.
Me: Oh, so if I do that, it'll reach the film festival?
Him: Not really, just that if we accidentally lose your parcel, we can inform you the bad news.
Me: Er. Okay.
(I filled in my particulars for the registered post)
Me: Right. Here you go. Hey man, be careful with it, okay? I mean, it'll reach in two weeks, right? It's important, I'm sending my stuff to a film festival!
Him: Sorry sir, like I said, we can't guarantee. It might reach in two weeks, or three weeks, or four. Or it might never even reach the intended recipient.
He shrugged and smiled.
I was horrified.
Anyway, dear POS MALAYSIA: Thanks for instilling sooooo much confidence in your customers. Your employees seriously need a role model like...
Related posts:
Two scenes from GIRL DISCONNECTED.
Video of me talking about GIRL DISCONNECTED at Filmmakers Anonymous 2, Central Market Annexe on February 2007
After all, this happened just one day after my Sin Chew Daily newspaper interview was published, and that this was also the very time I've ever been invited to submit my works to a foreign film festival. It was stated in the email that a member of their (the Portable Film Fest) research team found GIRL DISCONNECTED (I wonder how, the member's Malaysian? My film wasn't shown anywhere in Australia outside my own uni... very mysterious) and that's why they wanted me to submit it to the fest.
So, immediately I burnt a copy of GD and put it into an envelope, deadline's on the 30th of May, I couldn't afford to miss it. I headed to the post-office to send my stuff to Melbourne.
And had the misfortune to meet the most discouraging and pessimistic post office employee ever.
Basically, our conversation was like that (originally in Malay, but I'm translating it to English)
Me: Heya, I want to send this package to Melbourne aia express mail.
Him: Sure, fill in the form.
(I filled in the form)
Him: That will be 66 Ringgit.
(I stared at him in horror)
Me: SIXTY-SIX! THAT'S EXPENSIVE!
(He nodded)
Me: Er... ah... (frowns) If I send this normally? How much? And how long does it take to reach Melbourne?
Him: 3 ringgit 50 cents. Will arrive in 2 weeks. One thing though, we can't guarantee that it'll reach the intended recipient.
(I stared at him in horror. Again.)
Me: What? But this is urgent! Howwwwww?
Him: Maybe you can try to register the post, it's another 3 ringgit.
Me: Oh, so if I do that, it'll reach the film festival?
Him: Not really, just that if we accidentally lose your parcel, we can inform you the bad news.
Me: Er. Okay.
(I filled in my particulars for the registered post)
Me: Right. Here you go. Hey man, be careful with it, okay? I mean, it'll reach in two weeks, right? It's important, I'm sending my stuff to a film festival!
Him: Sorry sir, like I said, we can't guarantee. It might reach in two weeks, or three weeks, or four. Or it might never even reach the intended recipient.
He shrugged and smiled.
I was horrified.
Anyway, dear POS MALAYSIA: Thanks for instilling sooooo much confidence in your customers. Your employees seriously need a role model like...
Related posts:
Two scenes from GIRL DISCONNECTED.
Video of me talking about GIRL DISCONNECTED at Filmmakers Anonymous 2, Central Market Annexe on February 2007
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